AI has helped rescue children trafficked for sexual exploitation

Investigators have to scour images of hotel rooms to find trafficked children

Philip Gostelow/Anzenberger/plainpicture

By Donna Lu

One photo of a child in a hotel room can often be the only clue to a trafficked child’s whereabouts. An artificial intelligence is now helping investigators to identify these hotel rooms, leading to the rescue of a number of sexually exploited children.

Globally, an estimated 4.8 million people have been forced into sexual exploitation. More than 1 million are under 18.

In the US, exploited children often appear pictured in hotel rooms in online adverts. These images are found across dozens …